Ain-Al-Yaqeen - November 17, 2006

		November 17, 2006

THE CONCLUSION OF THE 15TH MEETING OF THE ARAB MINISTERS OF CULTURE IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN.
THE MUSCAT DECLARATION: STRENGTHENING ARAB CULTURAL COOPERATION IS A WAY TO SUPPORT THE COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AIMED AT SERVING THE ARAB CITIZEN TO ENABLE HIM TO FACE THE CHALLENGES OF THE MODERN WORLD.
THE SAUDI MINISTER OF CULTURE REJECTS THE INCLUSION OF OCCUPIED JERUSALEM IN THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST AS AN ISRAELI SITE.
OMAN'S MINISTER OF HERITAGE AND CULTURE CALLS FOR EXERTING EFFORTS TO DEVELOP EDUCATION AND CULTURE AMONGST ARAB GENERATIONS.

Arab ministers in charge of cultural affairs ended their 15th session held in the Omani capital Muscat.

The Saudi delegation to the meeting was led by Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Madani.

In his speech, delivered on his behalf by Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Subeyel, the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Information for Cultural Affairs, Iyad Madani welcomed the organization of the Omani cultural week in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He called for the rejection of the inclusion of occupied Jerusalem in the World Heritage List as an Israeli site.

At the communique issued at the end of the meeting, the Arab ministers confirmed their adherence to the convention of the cultural unity, and lauded the efforts being exerted by the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ALESCO) for enhancing the pillars of the joint Arab cultural work.

The communique said the joint Arab cultural work is the only way for realizing an effective Arab contribution in this era of regional blocs and international challenges.

Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture, stressed the importance of the 15th session of Arab Culture Ministers' conference which began in Oman. The meeting is aimed at enabling the Arab culture and intellectuals to play a prominent role in development. "Culture and the Information Society" was the title selected for this session by the Permanent Arab Culture Committee and the Arab Organisation for Education, Culture and Sciences.

In a statement to Oman News Agency, Sayyid Haitham said that the Ministry of Heritage and Culture prepared a 12-month programme of celebrations marking the designation of Muscat as Capital of Arab Culture 2006 as best as this designation could be honoured. Besides this session and the ongoing Algerian Cultural Week, programme for the remaining two months includes cultural weeks of Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Other programmes on the agenda include an Omani Cultural Week to be held in Riyadh shortly, the 5th Omani Poetry Festival and a cultural seminar to be dedicated to the 1988 Nobel for Literature laureate, the late Naguib Mahfouz, of Egypt.

Sayyid Haitham valued the organisation of Omani cultural weeks abroad for many years, saying they offered an opportunity to highlight Oman's rich cultural heritage. Recently, the Ministry of Heritage and Culture organised cultural weeks in Paris and Tunisia.

He added that the Sultan Qaboos Award for Cultural Innovation, announced by the Ministry on July 9 this year, was a valuable contribution to culture in Oman and the rest of the Arab world. Good literature on the award published on the websites of the ministry, "Muscat, the Arab Cultural Capital", in addition to leaflets distributed abroad via the Sultanate's embassies, provided a wide-scale response and made the project a big success.

He also said that a comprehensive plan is in place for the development of the National Archive on Oman's heritage and that the Council of Ministers approved recommendations pertaining to the implementation of a modern management system for public documents on the National Archive. The system is aimed to help cope with the rapid growth and large volume of data to streamline the flow of information to the country and its people.

This archive development plan requires that a law should be drafted to define principles for data processing and accessing, in addition to the training of a specialised staff and the establishment of a National Archive Authority. He stressed the new system requires maximum co-operation of officials of all ministries and government departments to make the plan a success, taking into account that the National Archive will help preserve the Omani heritage and support the government's policy in this regard.

Within the context of heritage conservation, the ministry has gone a long way in renovating forts and castles that extend everywhere in the Sultanate, recalling to mind the glorious history of the country, said Sayyid Haitham, adding that the ministry is working to draft a regulation to protect archaeological areas, monuments and mosques. He added that equal attention is accorded to museums. He announced that the ministry is currently preparing a specialised museum for (old) weapons.

Ministers responsible for culture in Arab states began arriving in Oman to participate in the Arab culture ministers" conference which opened at Al Bustan Palace hotel. Dr Adel al Towaisi, Jordan"s Minister of Information; Asaad Kamal al Hashimi, Iraqi Minister of Information; Khalida Toumi, Algerian Minister of Culture; Mehle Bint Ahmed, Mauritanian Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports; Mohammed al Achaari, Moroccan Minister of Culture; Dr Al Munji Bosneina, Director-General of the Arab Organisation for Education, Culture and Sciences; Mohammed Nassir al Sanusi, Kuwaiti Information Minister and Chairman of the National Council for Culture, Art and Literature; and Dr Mohammed Abdul-Ghafar Abdullah, Bahraini Minister of Information and Minister of the State for Foreign Affairs, arrived in Oman.

Later, Shaikh Meshaal bin Jassim al Thani, Chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage in Qatar, Abdurrahman bin Mohammed al Owais, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development and Khalid Abdullah al Ruweishan, Yemeni Minister of Culture, arrived here to take part in the conference. They were received by Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture, Shaikh Hamad bin Hilal al Maamari, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture for Cultural Affairs, their respective ambassadors and ministry officials.

Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, deputy prime minister for the Council of Ministers, received the Arab ministers responsible for cultural affairs who are in Oman to attend the 15th session of their annual conference at Al Bustan Palace Hotel.

Sayyid Fahd welcomed the ministers hailing the significance of strengthening Arab cultural cooperation in a way to support the comprehensive development aimed at serving the Arab citizen to enable him to face the challenges of the modern world.

Sayyid Fahd reviewed a number of cultural issues and ways to safeguard the Arab cultural heritage and benefit from the modern scientific methods to keep abreast with the needs of every stage of development.

They also discussed the main topics of the conference, joint Arab efforts toward activating linguistic, cultural and civilisation growth and enabling the Arab citizen to participate in the cultural dialogue with others.

The ministers expressed their gratitude to the Sultanate for the successful organisation of the conference.

The ministers also expressed their thanks and appreciation to Sultan Qaboos bin Said and hailed the Sultanate's achievements in different spheres.

The meeting was attended by Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, minister of heritage and culture, and Sheikh Hamad bin Hilal Al Ma'amari, undersecretary at the Ministry of Heritage and Culture.

The Arab ministers of culture sent a cable of thanks to Sultan Qaboos at the end of their 15th session in Muscat. They expressed gratitude for the hospitality shown to them and valued the efforts of the Sultanate in organising the conference. They pointed out that excellent preparation and management of the conference made the event a success and resulted in a positive outcome that serves joint Arab action in the field of culture. The ministers also hailed the Sultanate's progress which, they said, manifests the efforts of the Sultan, strengthens the Omani people's sense of belonging to the Arab identity and promotes Arab and Islamic values. They prayed to the Almighty God to grant the Sultan a long life. They wished the Omani people further progress and prosperity under the wise leadership of the Sultan.

The swift changes taking place around the world, economically, politically and culturally, make it imperative for Arab countries to redouble efforts to preserve and promote their culture and identity, according to the region's top culture officials.

They also noted that the revolution in the information and communications technology industry had prompted Arab countries to 'redraft' their cultural policies.

The remarks were made during the opening session of the 15th conference of Arab Culture Ministers in Oman. Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq Al Said, Oman's Minister of Heritage and Culture, who inaugurated the meeting, set the tone for the day's discussions when he underlined the need to 'develop and upgrade' the region's cultural identity in the "era of information revolution."

He said the cultural needs of the Arab states must be identified and strategies drawn up to promote them. Referring to the theme of the conference, which was 'Arab Culture and Information Society', he noted that it reflected the link between culture and information technology and communication.

"The essence of this association," Sayyid Haitham said, "emphasises the significance of enhancing the cultural dimension of development." He also said the fast developments witnessed by the world at the political, economic and cultural levels had made it necessary for Arab countries to reinforce their cultural strategies to make them more effective in their development programmes and build a "strong barrier around our Islamic entity in the wake of globalisation."

Sayyid Haitham observed that Arab culture was passing through a transformation stage due to these changes, and called for promoting the "level of education and culture of our peoples." It was also important, he added, that Arab states upgrade their educational and scientific establishments making use of modern technologies to cope with the new challenges.

Ministers in charge of culture of most of the Arab countries took part in the conference that coincided with Oman's celebrations marking Muscat as the Arab Cultural Capital for 2006. Dr Al Munji Bu Sinainah, Director-General of the Arab Educational, Culture and Scientific Organisation (AECSO), said the Omani capital fully deserved the title, also describing the Sultanate as a "true Arabian land".

He referred to Oman as a "meeting point of ancient cultures and tradition" that enriched Arab and Islamic civilisation.

Arab League Assistant Secretary-general for Information Affairs Mohammed Al Khamlishi said the information and communication wave that was sweeping the world had led to an "explosion of knowledge and creation of advanced scientific technologies that constitutes a shock for developing countries."

Arab Culture Ministers have ended two days of discussions here with a call on the region's countries to be alert against attempts to undermine their cultural identity. They cautioned that Israel was seeking to dominate the Arab world through extensive media campaigns, adding that 'Arabs should be vigilant against these cultural challenges'.

A 'Muscat Declaration' issued at the end of their 15th conference strongly condemned the Beit Hanoun carnage, stressing the right of Palestine and Lebanon to defend their territories. It called on the international community, human rights organisations and the UN Security Council to restrain the Jewish nation from its 'barbaric crimes against Palestinian civilians'.

The meeting rejected the inclusion of occupied Jerusalem in the World Heritage List as an Israeli site, pointing out that the move contradicted international law and UN and Security Council resolutions which clearly stated that Jerusalem was an occupied territory.

The ministers sent a message to UNESCO explaining their stand and asking it to remove the city from the list. They discussed financial allocations for a number of joint projects, including an Islamic Museum, the Al Aqsa Mosque Library and a mobile photography exhibition of Arab and Islamic monuments in Jerusalem.

The communiqué underlined the need to promote the Arabic language, make full use by Arab states of information technology, activate scientific research and regain "the lost glory of Arab culture and Arab Umma."

It said the use of modern technology and IT tools was vital in ensuring the cultural security of Arab countries, and urged them to allocate more funds for IT projects and the use of Arabic in the ICT industry.

The conference observed that the revolution in communication technology had transformed the world into a global village where there was no room for cultural isolation, emphasising the importance of dialogue with others based on the principles of mutual understanding, love and respect.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, Sayyid Fahad bin Mahmood Al Said, stressed the significance of strengthening Arab cultural cooperation "in a way to support the comprehensive development aimed at serving the Arab citizen to enable him to face the challenges of the modern world."

Sayyid Fahad, who was receiving the visiting culture ministers on the final day of their discussions, reviewed with them strategies to safeguard the cultural heritage of Arab countries and how they could benefit from modern scientific methods "to keep abreast with the needs of every stage of development."

The Bahraini Information Minister and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar affirmed the importance of re-evaluating joint cultural efforts in light of the challenges of the current stage and international and regional circumstances.

He also affirmed the importance of basing these joint efforts on a comprehensive strategy determining their path and directing their movement. This is according to a thorough vision that is able to deal with challenges and also able to connect the current present to the aspired future. The minister was speaking at the 15th session of the meetings of Arab ministers responsible for cultural affairs in Muscat.

Culture has always been a bridge of communication and joint understanding, remarked the minister. Dialogue and interaction among poles of creativity is how Arabs could have their say in this diverse world, he added. The minister noted that the role of culture is enhanced by describing it as a bearer of the values of dialogue, tolerance and elimination of violence, extremism and fanaticism in all their forms.

Embedding cultural values in the being of citizens makes them more flexible to accept others and recognize cultural and civilisational diversity, he said. These values should also be nurtured in children, adolescents and youth, added the minister as he stressed on the need for adapting education programmes to serve these purposes. Culture could perform these roles if proper cultural infrastructure was provided, said Abdul Ghaffar. This requires the involvement of all social segments, he explained.

The minister pointed out that non-governmental organizations and civil society institutions should also have a role in setting cultural plans and programmes. The minister said he was confident that the conference would come up with important recommendations that affirm that culture is not a matter of luxury.